Ideas Matter

Bill Maher and Poor Mississippi Rednecks

So Bill Maher sends Alexandra Pelosi down to the poorest state in the union to interview poor people. We watch the video. What do we get in the panel commentary? Very little of substance. The once self-described "libertarian' Bill Maher would do well to invite more libertarians onto his show. Break the bubble a little. Here's what he might have gotten out of a decent panelist:

The Allure of Marxism

Why are people still drawn to Marxism? Did you know it's still hot among the professoriate? I know, I know. Thoroughly discredited. But they eat that stuff up in the ivory tower. Brad Thompson's thesis is essentially that Marx was a great sloganeer. And he was. (I'd also argue that people have inherent dispositions to socialism.) My friend Michael Strong argues quite powerfully that -- due to academia's continuing fixation with Marx -- higher ed may be the "world's leading social problem."

He writes: 

Resolving the Immigration Paradox

Immigration is a tough issue. Ben Powell makes a strong economic case for open immigration here. After all, labor is a market. And the market mechanism has a way of reallocating labor in ways that is beneficial for everyone.

Yet we know that there are generous welfare programs in many states that mean immigants can come illegally and gain access to costly social services. If a robust welfare state is available to all comers, this is -- of course -- unsustainable (as it has been in Europe). This was essentially Milton Friedman's more pragmatic position. And he has a point. That is, he was for open immigration as long as the welfare state could be dismantled. And of course it isn't.

So how might we cut this immigration Gordian Knot?

Keynes's Magic Dipping Ladel

John Maynard Keynes probably didn't mean to supply justification for any road to serfdom. But he did. We're left with a mythology of job creation that only creates phantom jobs -- namely visible jobs contrived from the largess (but corresponding invisible job losses somewhere else). This is what happens when you divert resources from productive uses to less productive uses -- all in the name of "stimulating" the economy.

Government Distorts Healthcare: Obamacare Doubles Down

The U.S. healthcare system is not a free market. Not even close. There are five major things wrong with the system that make it less free and, therefore, more expensive -- both in terms of insurance and in terms of care. Most are mentioned in this video. But here's my list:

 

Milton Friedman Tribute

On the heels of the "If I wanted America to fail..." the narrator offers a restatement of the pencil story originally told by Leonard Reed (and channeled famously by Milton Friedman). Reed's is still a great version.

What are you doing for Milton Friedman's Century?

If I Wanted America to Fail... Breakdown

The above video has officially gone viral. For those in the business of producing free market media, we need to speculate as to why. We should also ask whether this is an echo-chamber piece or might actually be affecting the way some people think. Below is my assessment, for what it's worth. But before giving it, understand that 'video killed the think-tank star' -- in a manner of speaking. Let's discuss the communications strategy.

Water, Water Everywhere: Markets in H2O?

Milton Friedman once quipped: "If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand." Well, we put state and local governments in charge of water and guess what happens?

Matt Ridley Dishes Up Rational Optimism

Are we going to run out of food, resources and green space? Does trade make one party worse off? Is inequality the root of the world's problems? Is the world going to overheat and cause catastrophe?

Matt Ridley answers these questions and more in the best writing on the relationship between resources, markets and well-being since Julian Simon. What's superb about Ridley's work is that he not only slays the doommongers with flair, but he explains the beautiful processes set in motion by people serving each other creatively.

So why are people so pessimistic?

Was Milton Friedman Right? What A Difference Thirty Years Makes

What a difference thirty years makes.

Before we get into the evidence, we should mention that Frances Fox Piven seems to be conflating colonialism with capitalism. If, for example, property rights institutions provide a basis for any free enterprise system, it's difficult to see how commerce could have amounted to peasants losing their farms (unless, of course, by lose she means sold). When peasants have their land taken, it's always by governments or cronies colluding with governments to undermine property rights.

But back to the question--relatively speaking (because there is no perfectly free system on earth): Do the most economically free countries tend to produce more freedom and equality?